Chapter 8: Should I tear it up like a poster? (4)

“Is Hoshino crazy…!”

I knew Hoshino was angry at me.

So, I tried to explain the reason properly and reconcile, but it wasn’t just me that Hoshino was dissatisfied with.

“Even if it’s me, for Yume….”

I bit my lip and turned my head. Yume, with a blank expression, was looking at the torn poster.

“Yume, forget what Hoshino said. How hard you’ve worked, that…”

“Umm, it’s okay, Hime-chan. Hoshino-chan has been under a lot of stress lately… It’ll be okay as time passes. Me too, and Hoshino-chan too.”

“Yume….”

Yume picks up the torn poster. Very carefully, one by one, preciously.

I also picked up the torn poster pieces next to Yume.

Yume didn’t say anything during that time.

I also didn’t say anything.

Maybe there were many things I wanted to say, but I didn’t.

Because you don’t know what’s in your heart unless you say it.

So, I don’t know what Yume is feeling right now.

Is her heart about to break because of the harsh words she heard from her precious junior?

Or is she really okay?

I thought it was the former, of course.

But Yume was surprisingly calm.

Really, as if nothing happened.

So, I seemed to be relieved.

Ah, still, I’m glad Yume wasn’t hurt too much.

“Finally, it’s all over. Ugh, my back.”

“Yeah, thank you for helping, Hime-chan.”

“Why are you thanking me? This much is a matter of course between us. More than that, we have to go catch our junior who ran away after cursing her senior.”

“Don’t be too harsh, Hime-chan.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll scold her moderately. Then I’ll be going.”

“Yeah, come back, Hime-chan.”

And so, I left the student council room as well.

I closed the student council room door quietly, then leaned my back against the door and sat down.

“What a hardship….”

It’s hard enough to protect the school, but this is happening too, so my head throbs.

It seems like this is more troublesome than the debt that increases day by day.

“Where did Hoshino go….”

Still, we have to resolve the conflict between us. Even if it’s hard, we have to do it.

I got up from my seat, thinking that.

At that moment, I could hear it.

The voice coming from the student council room.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… It’s because I’m an idiot….”

What was I thinking at that moment?

I don’t know.

I don’t think any thought came to mind, as if my head had been hit hard.

The cloudy mind made me think I had died.

My chest, which was tightening, made me feel that I was alive.

Perhaps I was feeling misery.

Because of the adults who caused this situation.

Because of the broken relationship with Hoshino.

Because of my inability to approach Yume, who was crying alone, and my hesitation just before the door.

….

After standing there for a long time, I left the school with heavy steps.

Perhaps it was because of the thought that I might be the cause of all these things.

The school’s debt.

Desertification.

Hoshino, who was overworking herself without me knowing every day.

Hoshino, who finally exploded with stress.

If I had worked harder, this wouldn’t have happened.

I must reduce Hoshino’s burden from now on.

I bit my lip.

My face was contorted because I felt the smell of blood. No, maybe it’s because of my pathetic appearance.

Because I was sleeping stupidly while my junior was suffering and Yume was kidnapped.

I have to change from now on.

For Yume.

For Hoshino.

For Abydos school.

So that she doesn’t cry anymore.

That day, I made a resolution.

I didn’t think the resolution would be broken for an unimaginable reason.

I don’t remember it well.

Leaving only a note saying that I would leave the student council room for a while, I did all the work that made money.

Did Hoshino feel this way?

Both body and mind were exhausted, and the situation didn’t improve at all.

“…Come to think of it, I didn’t meet Hoshino.”

I boasted to Yume that I’d go meet Hoshino, but it ended up like this.

Was it because I’m a coward by nature?

A terrible pain is felt as I rotate my shoulder, which is overworked.

I frown and get out of bed to check the date.

Three days have passed since the day I fought with Hoshino.

It’s been three days of working hard, and my whole body screamed, but it’s not so bad.

As much as my body was overworked, I made sure to earn money.

I just hope that this money will ease the burden of Yume’s responsibility and Hoshino’s burden.

“Then, let’s work hard today….”

I was about to work.

If it hadn’t been for the sound of someone urgently knocking on the door of my house.

There’s almost no one who comes to my house at this time. For me, who only has Yume and Hoshino in terms of relationships, the only people who would come to my house are them.

“Who is it…?”

Did Yume come directly because I haven’t been to school for three days?

Or Hoshino?

But Hoshino doesn’t seem like she’d come to my house. There’s no reason for Hoshino, who doesn’t think well of me, to come to my house.

“Is it Yume?”

I headed to the door, holding various questions.

The sound of someone still urgently knocking on the door. That sound makes me feel ominous for some reason.

Why?

Feeling anxious, I opened the door.

Then, I saw a familiar figure.

A junior with pink hair.

Hoshino.

But something is different.

The sharp eyes of the usual were not visible, and the eyes filled with anxiety and regret were visible.

The well-groomed hair is no longer there, and only the disheveled hair is visible.

Hoshino’s face, breathing heavily and with a sad look, is so similar to mine, who was feeling misery and despair that day, and that’s why.

My voice was also soaked in the same anxiety as hers.

“Hoshino, what’s wrong?”

Hoshino flinched at my words and said in a trembling voice.

“H, Hime senior….”

Tears welled up in Hoshino’s eyes.

“Yume senior is missing….”